The Jäger Battalion 91 from Rotenburg (Wümme) in Lower Saxony is currently on the 1,600 kilometer long land march through Poland to the Pabradė military training area in Lithuania, which is in the immediate vicinity of the Belarusian border. The battalion moves to its location in the Baltics with all its weapon systems, vehicles and without any further logistical support. The individual marching bands of military vehicles roll along the streets towards the east at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour and at intervals of 100 meters each.
On the march, the Jägerbataillon 91 was brought together with pioneers, reconnaissance officers, suppliers and medics from the Bundeswehr locations in Augustdorf and Ahlen (both in North Rhine-Westphalia), Stadtallendorf (Hesse) and Holzminden (Lower Saxony) to form the “Gefechtsverband Jägerbataillon 91”. The association grew up at hubs called “Convoi Support Centers” in Brandenburg and Thuringia.
In Świętoszów, directly behind the German-Polish border, the more than 200 vehicles of the Bundeswehr battle group met for the first time. There is the location of the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade and the only tank training center in Poland, where Ukrainian soldiers are trained on the “Leopard” main battle tank. Since crossing the border, the German battle group, together with French and Polish units, has been subordinate to the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade.
Photo: Bundeswehr, Marco Dorow
The next stage destination with a daily performance of over 500 kilometers was the largest river in Poland - the Vistula. As part of the major NATO exercise “Steadfast Defender 2024”, Poland is holding the “Dragon 24” exercise. About a hundred kilometers south of Gdansk, 20,000 soldiers from nine NATO countries, including 15,000 from Poland, are practicing the multinational water crossing over the almost 400 meter wide river. British, German, French and Polish pioneers made it possible to cross the Vistula.
background
“Steadfast Defender 2024” is the largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War around 35 years ago and serves to deter Russia. The four-month large-scale maneuver extends from Norway to Romania. The Western defense alliance has mobilized a total of around 90,000 soldiers from all 31 member states and from the future member Sweden.
The German contribution to “Steadfast Defender 2024” ranges from the alerting of the first troops in January to the major final exercise in May in Lithuania. It is known as “Quadriga 2024” with four sub-exercises. With a total of around 12,000 soldiers and around 3,000 vehicles, this is the largest exercise by German land forces since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began around two years ago.
dr Gerd Portugall
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